NBC 4 reports that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has decided to bring charges against the former Marine who was involved in the recent subway incident that resulted in the death of an alleged unruly passenger. 

That former Marine is 24-year-old Daniel Penny. Penny is now facing one count of second-degree manslaughter, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

Penny, a college student on the verge of graduation, turned himself in to the police on Friday.

He has since been released on bail, which has been set at $100,000. The bond, which looks to ensure that Penny will appear in court, was reportedly secured by bondsman Ira Judelson.

The backstory

The manslaughter charge that Penny is now facing results from an incident that occurred on May 1 on New York City's northbound F train.

There, according to witnesses, 30-year-old Jordan Neely - a homeless man with mental health problems and a long history of criminal behavior - was threatening passengers. One passenger, a 66-year-old woman, reports:

He said, "I don’t care. I’ll take a bullet, I’ll go to jail" because he would kill people on the train. He said, "I would kill a mother******. I don’t care. I’ll take a bullet. I’ll go to jail."

At some point, Neely began acting aggressively, according to the witness, and that is when Penny stepped in. Penny took Neely to the ground and placed him in a chokehold. The encounter was captured on video.

After some time, Neely lost consciousness and died. A coroner has ruled that the death was a homicide that was caused by compression of the neck.

The big question was whether Bragg would bring charges against Penny. We now have the answer.

What else would you expect?

Bragg has recently gained notoriety for his unprecedented indictment of former President Donald Trump. Trump maintains that Bragg is a partisan actor, and many legal experts have opined that Bragg's case against Trump has little, if any, merit.

With this in mind, it is not that surprising that Bragg has decided to charge Penny after facing significant pressure from leftists to do just this.

Thomas Kenniff, Penny's attorney, has provided a brief statement indicating that Penny's defense will be that he was acting to protect both himself and the other subway passengers whom Neely was threatening.

Whether this defense will hold up in court is unclear.

One can never predict for sure what a jury will decide. But, it has to be remembered that this case will take place in New York City.